


The 4th

by twobirdsonesong



Category: CrissColfer - Fandom, Glee RPF
Genre: Fourth of July, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 06:56:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15165104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twobirdsonesong/pseuds/twobirdsonesong
Summary: I dunno alittledizzy tagged me so here this is





	The 4th

Chris is on his third gin and tonic when his phone starts buzzing in his pocket. He almost misses it, with how loud the music is, vibrating across his skin.

 

Once he notices the call he almost misses picking it up in time, surprised as he is by the number. 

 

Darren’s face is bright on his screen, an incoming FaceTime.  Chris almost lets it go, almost just lets the buzzing finish and fade into the night.  Just another missed call in a busy life.  Almost.

 

Chris accepts the call as he steps away from the group he was talking to, smiling as an apology.

 

“Hey,” Darren drawls, sounding far away from the phone, held down by his stomach. “Why am I looking at the floor and not your face?”

 

“Hold on,” Chris replies, waiting to lift the screen up until he’s clear of the party and tucked into a quiet spare bedroom.

 

When the door is shut, Chris takes a deep, steadying breath and finally brings the phone up to eye level.

 

Darren is drunk.  Bearded, shaggy, and sunburned around his sunglasses.  Drunk and beautiful.

 

“Hiiiiii,” Darren sing-songs. The camera is very close to his face, but Chris can see bright blue sky behind him, hints of beach and ocean.

 

“Hey.”  Everything else is clogged in his throat.

 

“What’cha doing?”

 

“Fourth of July.” Chris can hear people yelling and laughing in the background.  He wonders whose party it is, where he is in the world today. Why he chose to call at all.  “Same as you I take it.”

 

“Mhmm.” Darren is swaying to some music Chris can’t quite hear.

 

“Can you take those glasses off?” Chris asks, buying time.  “I feel like I’m talking to the Unabomber here.”

 

Darren’s hand obscures the camera for a second and then he’s back, his whole face, sunburned, squinting in the bright sunlight.  “Better?”

 

“Better.”

 

Chris doesn’t know what else to say. It’s been months since they’ve spoken, and months again before that. He doesn’t know why Darren would choose today of all days to call him.  It’s not like it carries any meaning for them.

 

“How are you?” Darren asks. Silences have never been easy for him.

 

 _Tired_ , Chris wants to say. _Tired, tipsy, lonely._

 

“Fine,” is what he says. “Busy, you know.”  He takes a sip of his drink.  He’s almost down to just the ice.

 

“Yeah, man.  Me too.  Me too.”  There’s silence again.  Darren turns briefly to look at something; he smiles, waves, and comes back to Chris.  A shift in movement shows he’s not wearing a shirt. He’s probably in swim trunks; a little red from the sun, a little sandy. Enjoying the day.

 

“You’re getting the fireworks first, huh.” Darren rubs his bearded jaw with the palm of his free hand and Chris can hear the rasp of it.

 

Chris nods.  It’s grown darker outside, soon the sky will be alight with fireworks over the East River.  “Yeah, it’s almost time.”  He can still hear the party he’s at on the other side of the door, the one he should rejoin.

 

“Can I, uh.” Darren clears his throat. “Can I watch them, with you?”

 

Chris blinks.  “You mean?” He shakes the phone a little.

 

“Yeah. I mean, if that’s okay.”

 

Chris swallows. It’s probably not okay. He’s tipsy, Darren’s drunk. He probably shouldn’t have taken the call in the first place.  He wonders how long it took Darren to call him, the time between the idea and the act, the space between the moments.

 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

Darren smiles, all white teeth and relief.  “Awesome.”

 

Chris walks over to the window, leans against the jamb with a soft sigh.  He thinks he can almost hear Darren breathing. “Yeah, awesome.”


End file.
